Digital asset management data model

ABSTRACT

A digital asset management system effectively provides full control of compound media assets and their specific components. The digital asset management data model supports the creation and management of multiple levels of granularity or metadata enrichment, and different sets of file types or renditions used throughout the digital asset processing life-cycle. The extensible digital asset management data model allows telecommunications service providers to augment or enrich compound media asset metadata, and thereby, optimize the relationship between media assets, and enhance storage and retrieval functionalities. The digital asset management system solves the technical problems arising from ingesting, storing, and managing rich media assets economically and efficiently.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims the benefit of priority to EPO applicationSerial No. 06425776.9, filed on Nov. 14, 2006 and to Italian applicationSerial No. MI2006A002179, filed Nov. 14, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This disclosure concerns data models and management systems for compoundmedia assets and their specific components. In particular, thisdisclosure relates to a flexible and easily extensible digital assetmanagement data model and system that uses the model to providetelecommunication service providers with the ability to efficientlyacquire, catalogue, modify, store, retrieve and publish compound mediaassets.

2. Background Information

The ongoing dynamics within the telecommunications industry continue tocreate both challenges and opportunities for companies competing toidentify new channels of revenue. Rapid advances in computer systems andtelecommunications technologies have driven the need for methods andsystems to manage an exponential demand for media content and support ofa vast array of rich media services offerings. Telecommunicationssubscribers now receive rich media that includes any combination ofaudio, graphics and video data, from a wide range of sources and types(e.g., movies, news, advertisement, and sports sources). Traditionalwireline or fixed services operators recognize increased competitionfrom wireless or mobile operators resulting from the fixed-mobilesubstitution phenomenon or convergence of fixed-mobile serviceofferings. Some of the telecommunications services leveraging rich mediainclude traditional television service, Internet service, cabletelevision service, cellular phone service, messaging service, andcombined voice and data delivery service.

The amount and types of compound media assets delivered through wirelessand wireline based telecommunications devices continue to expand. Forexample, a movie-asset received from a content provider could becomposed of a movie, several trailers, covers, digital and analogueformat renditions (i.e., different file formats with accompanying richmedia information), and a set of descriptive information such asintellectual property rights, pricing information, actors, writers,title, summary, description, language, dubbed languages, subtitles, andduration of each part. Hundreds of media formats exist, each with itsown characteristics and proprietary format. Telecommunications serviceproviders must integrate the rich media content, which in many cases arein disparate formats and possess other unique attributes, from variouscontent providers and content aggregators before delivering this contentto subscribers. As a result, telecommunications service providerscontinue to struggle to identify systems capable of efficiently and costeffectively integrating compound media assets, and managing the entirecontent life-cycle. In the past, no sufficiently flexible and efficientend-to-end mechanism for controlling rich media assets existed.Telecommunications service providers are now faced with difficulttechnical interoperability challenges related to storing, cataloguing,bundling and publishing rich media content with enriched metadata tosupport the content lifecycle and rapid development of new rich mediaservice offerings.

Creating and managing various levels of granularity or metadata, anddifferent sets of file types and formats (i.e., renditions) usedthroughout the digital asset processing life-cycle, and optimizing assetrelationships and related search functionalities pose significanttechnical challenges. As one example, there is a technical challenge indefining and implementing a data model sufficiently comprehensive toeliminate inefficient methods of editing, rendering, distributing,broadcasting, publishing and creating media programming from differentcontent providers. It is also a significant technical challenge tocreate a digital asset management data model which can manageunstructured compound media asset information from various contentproviders, and coherently model all information related to a mediaasset, and which has the ability to both normalize the disparate mediaformats into a unique flexible model, and easily incorporate new contentformats. Another technical challenge lies in providing a data modelwhich efficiently and flexibly supports metadata enrichment, and allowsone to economically preserve and reuse content. Yet another technicalchallenge lies in providing a mechanism for efficiently cataloguing,storing and updating rich media assets, which supports higherperformance during the operation and upgrade of service managementlogic.

A need has long existed for a flexible and easily extensible digitalasset management data model and system that provide telecommunicationsservice providers with the ability to organize and efficiently managecompound media assets. The digital asset management data model solvesthe technical problem of reducing the complexity of rapidly producingrich media service offerings efficiently and cost effectively.

SUMMARY

A digital asset management data model defines multiple hierarchiescontaining compound media asset data objects and compound media assetdescription objects. Selected compound media asset data objects andmetadata description objects define relationships between hierarchies toform a very flexible and easily extensible model for creating andmanaging various levels of granularity or metadata, and different setsof file types and formats (i.e., renditions) used throughout the digitalasset processing lifecycle. The compound media asset data objects andmetadata description objects may be augmented or enriched withadditional media asset metadata to optimize media assets relationships,enhance storage and retrieval, and easily incorporate new media contentformats and new compound media asset types.

A digital asset management system which includes the data model providesthe ability to efficiently acquire, catalogue, modify, store, retrieveand publish compound media assets. In one implementation, the digitalasset management system includes a processor, a database implementingthe digital asset management data model, communications interface and amemory. The digital asset management system provides full control ofcompound media assets and their specific components, and renderscompound media asset renditions which the data model has been organizedto support.

The processor executes a media asset acquisition program which obtainsasset data and asset metadata for a media asset through a communicationsinterface. The processor also executes an ingestion program that ingeststhe asset data and asset metadata by normalizing the asset data andasset metadata with respect to a defined object format. The processorpopulates objects within multiple hierarchies, including: the assetdescription objects, at least one of the compound media asset typedescription objects, and at least one of the compound media asset typefile objects. In particular, the processor may enrich the asset metadataby augmenting the asset data and asset metadata with additional assetdata and asset metadata not originally obtained for a media asset. Theprocessor may also create different media asset formats, or performcontent transcoding to produce media asset renditions suitable fortransmission to specific delivery channels. The data model hierarchiesprovide the digital asset management system with the ability toefficiently ingest, store, and manage rich media assets, and effectivelyfacilitate rapid development and lifecycle support of rich media serviceofferings.

Other systems, methods, and features of the invention will be, or willbecome, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of thefollowing figures and detailed description. It is intended that all suchadditional systems, methods, features and advantages be included withinthis description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protectedby the following claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, likereferenced numerals designate corresponding parts or elements throughoutthe different views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a digital asset management system.

FIG. 2 shows the digital asset management data model.

FIG. 3 shows the acts that the media acquisition program may take.

FIG. 4 shows the acts that the ingestion program may take.

FIG. 5 shows the acts that the management program may take.

FIG. 6 shows a media asset representation.

FIG. 7 shows a media asset representation.

FIG. 8 shows a media asset representation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The digital asset management system addresses difficult technicalinteroperability challenges related to efficiently preserving andreusing compound media content from disparate content sources in termsof resource use such as processor time and memory space, as well ascost. In addition to being a comprehensive, flexible and efficientend-to-end mechanism for controlling, storing, and defining rich mediacontent, the digital asset management system facilitates rapid creationof new media asset renditions, reduces the complexity of producing newrich media service offerings, and thereby accelerates market entry ofnew rich media service offerings. The digital asset management systemmanages unstructured compound media asset information from varioussources, and coherently models all information related to a media assetby normalizing disparate media formats into a unique flexible model thateasily incorporates new content formats. The digital asset managementsystem eliminates inefficient methods of editing media data, andenriching media metadata, cataloguing, bundling, rendering,distributing, broadcasting, publishing and creating media programming.The digital asset management system creates and manages many differentlevels of granularity or metadata, and file types and formats (i.e.,renditions) so that asset relationships and related searchfunctionalities are optimized, and rapid development of new rich mediaservice offerings, and higher performance during the operation andupgrade of service management logic are possible. The digital assetmanagement system allows easy configuration of new media asset sourcesand new delivery channels.

The elements illustrated in the Figures interoperate as explained inmore detail below. Before setting forth the detailed explanation,however, it is noted that all of the discussion below, regardless of theparticular implementation being described, is exemplary in nature,rather than limiting. For example, although selected aspects, features,or components of the implementations may be depicted as being stored inmemories, all or part of systems and methods consistent with the digitalasset management data model and system may be stored on, distributedacross, or read from other machine-readable media, for example,secondary storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs;a signal received from a network; or other forms of ROM or RAM eithercurrently known or later developed.

Furthermore, although specific components of the digital assetmanagement data model and system will be described, methods, systems,and articles of manufacture consistent with the digital asset managementdata model and system may include additional or different components.For example, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor,microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),discrete logic, or a combination of other type of circuits or logic.Similarly, memories may be DRAM, SRAM, Flash or any other type ofmemory. Flags, data, databases, tables, and other data structures may beseparately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memoryor database, may be distributed, or may be logically and physicallyorganized in many different ways. Programs may be parts of a singleprogram, separate programs, or distributed across several memories andprocessors. Furthermore, the programs, or any portion of the programs,may instead be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 1 shows a digital asset management system 100. The digital assetmanagement system 100 includes a processing unit 115 coupled to acommunication interface 120, a memory 125 and a database 130. Thedigital asset management system 100 organizes media asset data 140 andmedia asset metadata 145 received through the communication interface120 to define relationships between multiple hierarchies, forming a veryflexible and easily extensible object model identified as the digitalasset management data model 135.

The communications interface 120 receives and transmits, for example,media asset data and media asset metadata, and may be directly connectedto a network, such as the Internet. The communications interface 120 mayinclude a keyboard, mouse, or any other communications interface means.The digital asset management system 100, in one implementation, iscapable of communicating with media asset sources 105, delivery channels107 and media asset subscribers 110 via the communications interface120.

Media asset sources 105 may contract telecommunications serviceproviders to propose, configure, provision, and enable the media assetsfor delivery in rich media service offerings, in return for monetarycompensation. A media asset, provided by a media asset source 105,includes the content, and essence or physical representation of the dataassociated with the media asset. A media asset also includes informationabout the media asset, for example the rights related to the period oftime and way an asset may be used in the delivery of rich media servicesto delivery channels 107 and media asset subscribers 110. A media assetis captured in the digital asset management data model 135 as mediaasset data 140 and media asset metadata 145.

Delivery channels 107 are venues or outlets for rich media services,which may include, for example, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV),internet websites and network television. Delivery channels 107 haveplatform specific format requirements for media asset renditions 165 andmedia asset bundles 190 derived from media assets. Telecommunicationservice providers receive monetary compensation from delivery channels107 and media asset subscribers 110 for access to rich media serviceofferings created from the media assets.

The memory 125 stores a media asset acquisition program 173. The mediaasset acquisition program 173 acquires the media asset data 140 andmedia asset metadata 145 from the media asset sources 105 through thecommunications interface 120. The media asset acquisition program 173validates the compound media asset type file object 160 against apredefined document type definition (DTD) file 175 specific to theformat agreed upon by the media asset source 105. Table 1 shows anexample definition of a media asset type file object, and Table 2 showsan example DTD file. The media asset acquisition program 173 validatesthat the metadata provided by the media asset sources 105 aresemantically correct and that the mandatory fields are fulfilled andconsistent.

TABLE 1 Compound Media Asset File Media Asset Source or Content ProviderFile <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8” ?> - <Asset> -<AssetDescription>  <Action>new</Action>  <AssetType>Movie</AssetType> <Title>Media Asset Sources - Movie </Title>  <Description>A descriptionof the movie. </Description>  <ProviderName>Media AssetSource</ProviderName>  <ProviderID>Media Asset Source ID </ProviderID> <ProviderProdID>00009z</ProviderProdID> <OriginCountry>USA</OriginCountry>  <Year>2006</Year> <Genre>Animation</Genre>  <Rating>G - General Audience</Rating> <IsSeries />  <EpisodeNumber />  <Protected />  <Sellable /> <EpisodeTitle />  <Actors>Actor 1 name </Actors>  <Actors>Actor 2 name</Actors>  <Actors>Actor 3 name </Actors>  <Directors>Director 1 name</Directors>  <Directors>Director 2 name </Directors> <Directors>Director 3 name </Directors>  <Producers>Producer 1 name</Producers>  <Producers>Producer 2 name </Producers>  <Writers>Writer 1name </Writers>  <Studio>Studio 1 name </Studio> <Audience>Family</Audience>  <Advisory>All-Ages</Advisory> <CreationDate />  <Summary>Movie summary.</Summary> </AssetDescription> - <Channels> - <Channel> <DestinationChannel>IPTV</DestinationChannel> <StartDate>06/01/2006</StartDate>  <EndDate>06/01/2007</EndDate> <Price>MedPC</Price>  <CostCategory>Default CostCategory</CostCategory>  <BillingID>Default Price Category</BillingID> <NewRealaseWindow>100</NewRealaseWindow>  </Channel>  </Channels> -<Movies> - <Movie>  <AspectRatio>4/3</AspectRatio> <AudioTypes>Stereo</AudioTypes>  <AudioTypes>Dolby SR</AudioTypes> <HDContent />  <Duration>88 min</Duration> <Languages>English</Languages> <SubtitleLanguages>English</SubtitleLanguages> <SubtitleLanguages>Italian</SubtitleLanguages> <DubbedLanguages>Italian</DubbedLanguages>  <Angles /> - <Files> -<File name=“Filename_Movie.mpg”>  <CheckSum>88</CheckSum> <VideoBitrate>3000000</VideoBitrate>  <VideoCodec>mpeg2</VideoCodec> <AudioCodec>mpeg1</AudioCodec>  <AudioBitrate>172000</AudioBitrate> <FrameHeight>544</FrameHeight>  <FrameWidth>576</FrameWidth>  </File> </Files>  </Movie>  </Movies> - <Trailers> - <Trailer>  <Type /> <AspectRatio>4/3</AspectRatio>  <AudioTypes>Stereo</AudioTypes> <AudioTypes>Dolby SR</AudioTypes>  <HDContent />  <Duration>88min</Duration>  <Languages>English</Languages> <Languages>Italian</Languages> <SubtitleLanguages>Italian</SubtitleLanguages> <DubbedLanguages>Italian>/DubbedLanguages>  <Angles /> - <Files>/ -<File name=“Media_Asset_Trailer.mpg”>  <CheckSum /> <VideoBitrate>3000000</VideoBitrate>  <VideoCodec>mpeg2</VideoCodec> <AudioCodec>mpeg1</AudioCodec>  <AudioBirate>172000</AudioBitrate> <FrameHeight>544</FrameHeight>  <FrameWidth>576</Framewidth>  </File> </Files>  </Trailer>  </Trailers> - <Graphics> - <Graphic> - <Files> -<File name=“Media_Asset.jpg”>  <AspectRatio>4:3</AspectRatio> <DPI>96×96 </DPI>  <Width>324</Width>  <Height>475</Height>  <Format /> <CheckSum />  </File>  </Files>  </Graphic>  </Graphics>  </Asset>

TABLE 2 Document Type Definition (DTD) File <?xml version=“1.0”encoding=“UTF-8”?> <!ELEMENT Actors (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Advisory(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Angles (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT AspectRatio (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT Asset (AssetDescription, Channels, Movies?, Trailers?,Audios?, Graphics?)> <!ELEMENT AssetDescription (Action?,AssetType?, Title, Description?,ProviderName?, ProviderID?, ProviderProdID, OriginCountry?, Year?, Genre?,Rating?, IsSeries?, EpisodeNumber?, Protected?, Sellable?, EpisodeTitle?,Actors*, Directors*, Producers*, Writers*, Studio?, Audience?, Advisory?,CreationDate?, Summary?, SportName?, SportSeason?, SportMatchDay?,SportTeam?, NewsDateTime?)> <!ELEMENT AssetType (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTChannels (Channel)> <!ELEMENT Movies (Movie)> <!ELEMENT Trailers(Trailer)> <!ELEMENT Audios (Audio)> <!ELEMENT Graphics (Graphic)><!ELEMENT Action ANY> <!ELEMENT Audience (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Files(File)> <!ELEMENT AudioBitrate (#PCDTA)> <!ELEMENT AudioCodec (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT AudioType (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT AudioTypes (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTAudio (Files)> <!ELEMENT BillingID (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Bitrate(#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT Channel (DestinationChannel, StartDate, EndDate, Price?,CostCategory?, BillingID?, NewRealaseWindow?)> <!ELEMENT CheckSum(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Codec (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT CostCategory (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT CreationDate (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT DPI (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTDescription (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT DestinationChannel (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTDirectors (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT DubbedLanguages (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTDuration (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT EndDate (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT EpisodeNumber(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT EpisodeTitle (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT AudioChannels(#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT File (Bitrate?, Codec?, AspectRatio?, DPI?, Width?, Height?,Format?, CheckSum?, VideoBitrate?, VideoCodec?, AudioCodec?,AudioBitrate?, FrameHeight?, FrameWidth?, AudioChannels?)> <!ATTLISTFile  name CDATA#REQUIRED > <!ELEMENT Format (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTFrameHeight (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT FrameWidth (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Genre(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Graphic (Files)> <!ELEMENT HDContent (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT Height (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT IsSeries (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTLanguages (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT Movie (AspectRatio?, AudioTypes*, HDContent?, Duration?,Languages*, SubtitleLanguages*, DubbedLanguages*, Angles*, Files)><!ELEMENT NewRealaseWindow (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT NewsDateTime (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT OriginCountry (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Price (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTProducers (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Protected (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT ProviderID(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT ProviderName (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT ProviderProdID(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Rating (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Sellable (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT SportMatchDay (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT SportName (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT SportSeason (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT SportTeam (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT StartDate (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Studio (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTSubtitleLanguages (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Summary (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENTTitle (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Trailer (Type, AspectRatio?, AudioTypes*,HDContent?, Duration?, Languages*, SubtitleLanguages*, DubbedLanguages*,Angles*, Files)> <!ELEMENT Type (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT VideoBitrate(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT VideoCodec (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Width (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT Writers (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT Year (#PCDATA)>

The memory 125 stores an ingestion program 180. The ingestion program180, in one implementation, employs a two phased approach that includesnormalizing and then enriching the media asset data 140 and media assetmetadata 145. The ingestion program 180 processes the media asset data140 and media asset metadata 145 received provided by media assetsources 105. The ingestion program 180 normalizes the media asset data140 and media asset metadata 145 by populating the asset descriptionobjects 150, and some combination of the compound media asset typedescription objects 155 and compound media asset type file objects 160with data and metadata conforming to the object definitionscorresponding to the respective digital asset management data model 135hierarchies.

The defined object format used by the ingestion program 180 to normalizeinformation provided by media asset sources 105 is a unique formatinternal to the digital asset management data model. Media asset sources105 provide unstructured media assets and asset information, typicallyin a customized or proprietary format specific to the media assetsource. Normalizing media assets, in other words, populating the digitalasset management data model 135 with media asset information accordingto the object definitions within each of the model's hierarchies,facilitates the system 100 to ingest media assets from disparate sourcesinto a uniform, extensible, and flexible structure, and coherently modelall information related to a media asset.

The processing unit 115 executes the ingestion program 180. Theingestion program 180, in one implementation, creates enriched mediaasset data and media asset metadata 195 by augmenting the media assetdata 140 and media asset metadata 145 with additional asset data andasset metadata not originally obtained from the media asset sources 105for the media asset. Enriching media asset metadata 145, for example,may include updating a compound media asset type description object withnew languages and subtitle languages as they become available for amedia asset. In an alternative implementation, enriching media assetmetadata 145 includes populating a compound media asset type descriptionobject with new audio types as audio types evolve. Enriched media assetdata and media asset metadata 195, in other implementations, are createdby updating a compound media asset type file object with new deliverychannels or target channels as they are contracted. Enriched media assetdata and media asset metadata 195, in other implementations, are createdby updating an asset description object with additional target audiencesand genres as they are developed or identified. Enriched media assetdata and media asset metadata 195 may be created, for example, byassociating a media asset with a new trailer description object, andmultiple trailer file objects corresponding to multiple file formats ormedia asset renditions.

The memory 125 may also store a media management program 185. The mediamanagement program 185, in one implementation, edits and repurposes amedia asset by updating the media asset metadata 145, and creating amedia asset rendition 165 from the media asset data 140 and asset mediametadata 145. The media asset rendition 165 is later stored in thedatabase 130. The media management program 185, in an alternativeimplementation, publishes a media asset rendition 165 of the media assetto a specific delivery channel by creating a media asset bundle 190,associating the media asset bundle 190 with a particular deliverychannel 107, and scheduling and deploying the media asset bundle 190 tothe delivery channel 107. A media asset bundle 190 is a subset of theasset objects created for a specific delivery channel 107, and mayinclude an asset description object and multiple media asset renditions165 in a format specifically for a particular delivery channel 107. Inthe example shown in FIG. 1, the media asset bundle 190 includes tworenditions: a movie rendition; a trailer rendition; and a media assetdescription object associated. The system 100, in one implementation,associates a previously created media asset bundle 190 with a deliverychannel 107 and corresponding delivery platform, and schedules anddeploys the previously created media asset bundle 190 to the deliverychannel. The system 100 may alternatively schedule and deploy to adelivery platform a previously created media asset bundle 190 previouslyassociated with a delivery channel and delivery platform.

FIG. 2 shows the digital asset management data model 135. The digitalasset management data model 135, in the example shown in FIG. 2, mayinclude three hierarchies, namely, the asset description hierarchy 200,compound media asset type description hierarchy 230, and the compoundmedia asset type file description hierarchy 260. The hierarchies,logical structures or ordered levels organize the media asset data 140and media asset metadata 145 to facilitate innovation, reduce complexityof producing new rich media service offerings, and accelerate marketentry of new rich media service offerings.

The asset description hierarchy 200 associates all compound media assetsand related metadata to a media asset. The compound media asset typedescription hierarchy 230 defines the types of compound media assetsassociated with a media asset. A one-to-many relationship exists betweenobjects from the asset description hierarchy 200 and objects from thecompound media asset type description hierarchy 230. The compound mediaasset type file description hierarchy 260 defines the files associatedwith compound media types associated with an asset. A many-to-manyrelationship exists between objects from the compound media asset typedescription hierarchy 230 and objects from the compound media asset typefile hierarchy 260.

The asset description hierarchy 200 may include asset descriptionobjects 205. Asset description objects 205, in one implementation,include asset data and metadata as described in Table 2. Assetdescription objects 205 contain data and metadata relating media assetdata and media asset metadata to a media asset. Asset descriptionobjects 205 relate corresponding digital asset management data modelobjects in the asset description hierarchy 200, compound media assettype description hierarchy 230 and compound media asset type filehierarchy 260 to a media asset.

TABLE 2 Asset Description Object Name Label Asset_description AssetDescription Attribute Attribute Repeating Attribute Name DescriptionType Length Attribute Actors Actors String 32 Yes Advisory advisoryString 32 No audience Target Audience String 32 YES cp_action ActionSpecified by this Asset String 32 No creation_date creation_date String32 No description Description String 256 No directors Directors String32 Yes episode_number Episode Number String 32 No episode_title EpisodeTitle String 128 No genre Genre String 32 YES is_series Is this aSeries? Boolean 1 No news_date Date for the news ON String 32 No AIRorigin_country Country of Origin String 32 No package_title Title ofPackage String 256 No producers Producers String 32 No production_yearProduction Year String 4 No provider_id Provider ID String 32 Noprovider_name Provider Name String 128 No provider_prod_id ProviderProduct ID String 32 No rating Rating String 32 No sport_match_day Theday of the match String 32 No sport_name Name of the sport String 32 Nosport_season Season of sport String 32 No sport_team Team name String256 Yes studio Studio Name String 64 No package_summary Summary String256 No writers Writers String 32 Yes cp_date_sent Date content String 32No provider sent package package_type Package type String 32 Yes

The asset description hierarchy 200 may include channel descriptionobjects 210. Channel description objects 210, in one implementation,identify the target delivery channels of a media asset, and may includechannel description asset data and metadata as described in Table 3.Channel description objects 210 contain media asset data and media assetmetadata relating media asset sources 105 or content providers todelivery channels for media assets. Channel description objects 210relate one or more delivery channels to a media asset. Accordingly,asset description objects 205 have a one-to-many relationship withcorresponding channel description objects 210 for a media asset.

TABLE 3 Channel Description Object Name Label channel_descriptionChannel Description Object Type Attribute Attribute Repeating AttributeName Attribute Label Type Length Attribute cost_category Cost CategoryString 32 No destination_channel Destination Channel String 32 Noend_date Licensing End Date String 32 No (mm/dd/yyyy) new_release_windowNew Release Window String 32 No price Price String 32 No price_categoryPrice Category String 32 No pub_folder_id Publishing Source Folder IdString 32 No start_date Licensing Start Date String 32 No (mm/dd/yyyy)

The asset description hierarchy 200 may include electronic program guideobjects 215. Electronic program guide objects 215, in oneimplementation, provide information that facilitates the creation of anelectronic program guide (EPG) that includes a list of current andscheduled programming available on a channel, and a short summary orcommentary for each program. Electronic program guide objects 215, in analternative implementation, contain information used to set parentalcontrols, order programming, and search for programming based on viewerselected criteria. Electronic program guide objects 215 may includeasset data and metadata as described in Table 4. Electronic programguide objects 215 contain media asset data and media asset metadatarelating EPG attributes to delivery channels 107 for media assets.Electronic program guide objects 215 relate one EPG to one deliverychannel for a media asset. Accordingly, asset description objects 205have a one-to-many relationship with corresponding electronic programguide objects 215 for a media asset.

TABLE 4 Electronic Program Guide (EPG) Description Object Name LabelElectronic_program_guide_description Electronic Program GuideDescription Attribute Attribute Repeating Attribute Name Attribute LabelType Length Attribute epg_category EPG Category String 48 Noepg_cp_action Content Provider Action String 32 No epg_creation_date EPGCreation Date String 32 No epg_description EPG Description String 1024No epg_duration EPG Duration String 32 No epg_end_time EPG End TimeString 32 No epg_event_id EPG Event ID String 32 No epg_event_type EPGEvent String 64 No Type epg_provider EPG Provider String 128 Noepg_provider_id EPG Provider ID String 64 No epg_start_time EPG StartTime String 32 No epg_title EPG Title String 256 No epg_channel_nameDistribution String 32 No Channel Name for EPG

The compound media asset type description hierarchy 230 may include dataand metadata describing particular compound media asset types associatedwith a media asset. The compound media asset type description hierarchy230 contains compound media asset type description objects. Compoundmedia asset type description objects may include movie descriptionobjects 235, trailer description objects 240, cover description objects245, audio description objects 250, and abstract compound media assettype description objects 255. In other implementations, the hierarchy230 may define additional, fewer, or different compound media asset typedescription objects. Compound media asset type description objects mayalso include asset data and metadata, such as that described in Table 5.Compound media asset type description objects define the type of mediaasset data associated with the media asset. For example, a media assetmay be defined to include a movie, multiple trailers, a cover andseveral audio type description objects. Each trailer, for example, maycontain media asset metadata defining distinct languages and subtitlelanguages associated with each trailer. Accordingly, asset descriptionobjects 205 have a one-to-many relationship with corresponding compoundmedia asset type description objects 235 for a media asset.

TABLE 5 Compound Media Asset Type Description Object Name LabelCompound_media_asset_type_description compound media asset typedescription object Attribute Attribute Repeating Attribute NameAttribute Label Type Length AttributeCompound_media_asset_type_description Description of asset type String64 No angles Angles String 32 Yes aspect_ratio Aspect Ratio String 64 Noaudio_types Audio Types available String 32 Yes (Dolby ProLogic, DolbyDigital, Stereo, Mono, Dolby 5.1) dubbed_languages Dubbed LanguagesString 32 Yes duration duration String 64 No hd_content is HighDefinition Content String 32 No languages Languages String 32 Yessubtitle_languages Subtitle Languages String 32 Yes

The compound media asset type file hierarchy 260 may include media assetdata and media asset metadata associating a compound media asset typefile with a media asset. The compound media asset type file hierarchy260, in one implementation, includes movie file objects 265, trailerfile objects 270, cover file objects 275, audio file objects 280, andabstract compound media asset type file objects 285. In otherimplementations, the hierarchy 260 may define additional, fewer, ordifferent compound media asset type file objects. Each media asset hasat least one compound media asset type file object 160 defined, namely,the compound media asset type file object associated with the mediaasset source or content provider file provided by media asset sources105, as described in Table 1. Compound media asset type file objects mayalso include asset data and metadata as described in Table 6. Compoundmedia asset type file objects associate media asset data files withmedia assets. For example, a media asset may be associated with a movie,multiple trailers, a cover and several audio type media asset datafiles. Each audio file, for example, may contain distinct languages andsubtitle languages data associated with each trailer. Each compoundmedia asset type file object corresponds to at least one compound mediaasset type description object for a media asset. Accordingly, assetdescription objects 205 have a one-to-many relationship withcorresponding compound media asset type file objects 260 for a mediaasset.

TABLE 6 Compound Media Asset Type File Object Name LabelCompound_media_asset_type_file compound media asset type file objectAttribute Attribute Repeating Attribute Name Attribute Label Type LengthAttribute audio_bitrate Audio Bitrate String 32 No audio_codec AudioCodec String 32 No frame_height Frame Height String 32 No frame_widthFrame Width String 32 No audio_channels audio channels String 32 Yestarget_channels delivery channels String 32 Yes video_bitrate VideoBitrate String 32 No video_codec Video Codec String 32 No aspect_ratioAspect ratio String 32 No dpi DPI String 32 No height Height String 32No width Width String 32 No Is_source Is this a source file? Boolean 1No checksum File checksum String 64 No

FIG. 3 shows the acts that the system 100 may take to acquire the mediaasset, for example by executing the media asset acquisition program 173.The media asset acquisition program 173 may acquire the media asset data140 and media asset metadata 145 from the media asset sources 105through the communications interface 120 (Act 305). The media assetacquisition program 173 may validate the compound media asset type fileobject 160 against a predefined document type definition (DTD) file 175specific to the format agreed upon by the media asset source 105 (Act310). The media asset acquisition program 173 validates that themetadata provided by the media asset sources 105 are semanticallycorrect and that the mandatory fields are fulfilled and consistent. Thesystem 100 may set a status indicator to acknowledge that the compoundmedia asset type file object 160 has been successfully validated (Act315).

FIG. 4 shows the acts that the system 100 may take to ingest a mediaasset, for example by executing the ingestion program 185. The system100 may populate the asset description objects 150 with the media assetdata 140 and media asset metadata 145 acquired through thecommunications interface 120 (Act 410). The system 100 therebynormalizes the media asset data 140 and media asset metadata 145.Normalizing media assets, in other words, populating the digital assetmanagement data model 135 with media asset information according to theobject definitions within each of the digital asset management datamodel's hierarchies, facilitates the system 100 to ingest media assetsfrom disparate sources into a uniform, extensible, and flexiblestructure, and coherently model all information related to a mediaasset. The system may also populate a compound media asset typedescription object (Act 415), and a compound media asset type fileobject (Act 420). As a result, the system 100 may produce media assetrenditions and media asset bundles for target delivery channels.

The system 100 may enrich the media asset metadata by augmenting themedia asset data 140, and media asset metadata 145 with additional mediaasset data and additional media asset metadata (Act 425). The system100, in one implementation, enriches the media asset metadata bydefining unique media asset data and media asset metadata not originallyassociated with the media asset (Act 430). Enriching media assetmetadata 145, for example, may include updating a compound media assettype description object with new languages and subtitle languages asthey become available for a media asset. The system, in oneimplementation, further enriches the media asset metadata by definingunique combinations of compound media asset type description objects andcompound media asset type file objects not originally associated withthe media asset (Act 435). For example, where a channel descriptionobject, and multiple trailer description objects and correspondingtrailer file objects are defined, the system 100 may define combinationsof trailers and channel description objects previously not available toproduce unique compound media asset combinations. In another example, aselectronic smell replication technology evolves sufficiently tosubsequently define a smell type description object and correspondingsmell type file object for a media asset, the compound media assetobjects may be combined with existing compound media asset objects toproduce unique renditions.

FIG. 5 shows the acts that the system 100 may take to manage a mediaasset, for example by executing the media management program 185. Thesystem may provision media asset sources (Act 505). The system maysearch and retrieve asset data and metadata based on user selectioncriteria (Act 510). The system, in one implementation, edits andrepurposes the media asset by updating the media asset data and mediaasset metadata associated with a media asset (Act 515). The system 100may create a media asset rendition 165 from the asset media data andasset media metadata (Act 520). Creating different media asset formatsor content transcoding produces media asset renditions suitable forspecific delivery channels. The digital asset management data modelfacilitates rapid creation of new media asset renditions, reduces thecomplexity of producing new rich media service offerings, and therebyaccelerates market entry of new rich media service offerings.

The system 100 may publish the media asset rendition 165 by creating amedia asset bundle 190 with the media asset rendition 165 (Act 525),associating the media asset bundle 190 with a delivery channel 107 andcorresponding delivery platform (Act 530), formatting the media assetbundle 190 for delivery to the delivery platform (Act 535), andscheduling and deploying the media asset bundle 190 to the deliveryplatform (Act 540). The system 100, in one implementation, associates apreviously created media asset bundle 190 to a delivery channel 107 andcorresponding delivery platform, and schedules and deploys thepreviously created media asset bundle 190 to the delivery channel. Thesystem 100 may alternatively schedule and deploy to a delivery platforma previously created media asset bundle 190 previously associated with adelivery channel and delivery platform.

FIG. 6 illustrates a prime time news media asset representation 600. Inthe example shown in FIG. 6, the prime time news media assetrepresentation 600 includes asset description objects 150 for a mediaasset described as Prime Time News (PTN). The asset description objectsshown in FIG. 6 include an asset description object PTN (element 605), achannel description object PTN-Web (element 610). The channeldescription object, in FIG. 6, indicates that the representation isformatted for a website delivery channel.

The prime time news media asset representation 600, in the example shownin FIG. 6, includes a combination of compound media asset typedescription objects, for example, a movie description object PTN-1(element 615), trailer description objects PTN-1 (elements 620), a coverdescription object PTN-1 (element 625), and an audio description objectPTN-1 (element 630). The movie description object PTN-1 (element 615)may associate a main news story to the prime time news media asset. Thetrailer description object PTN-1 (elements 620) may associate shortvideo clips related to the main news story. The cover description objectPTN-1 (element 625) may associate a lead graphic which may be shown withthe description of the asset.

The media asset representation 600, in the example shown in FIG. 6,includes a combination of compound media asset type file objectscorresponding to the compound media asset type description objects, forexample, a movie file object PTN-1 (element 635), trailer file objectsPTN-1 and PTN-2 (elements 640 and 645), a cover file object PTN-1(element 650), and an audio file object PTN-1 (element 655). Thecompound media asset type file objects associate the media asset datafiles to the media asset.

FIG. 7 shows a second example of a prime time news media assetrepresentation 700, Video on Demand (VoD) asset, as examples forinternet protocol television (IPTV) and web delivery channels. The assetdescription objects shown in FIG. 7 include a channel description objectPTN-Web (element 710), and a channel description object PTN-IPTV(element 715). The media asset representation 700, in the example shownin FIG. 7, also includes a combination of compound media asset typedescription objects, for example, a movie description object PTN-1(element 720), trailer description objects PTN-3 (elements 725), and acover description object PTN-2 (element 730). The trailer descriptionobject PTN-3 (elements 725) may include languages and subtitle languagesthat are not associated with trailer description object PTN-1 (elements620). In the example shown in FIG. 7, where the main news story may beglobal in scope the trailers and covers may associate related topiccontent that acknowledges diplomatic protocols, and informationrestrictions to which the targeted delivery channel must comply. Forexample, supplemental or replacement commentary may be used in thetrailers and cover content to the exclusion of commentary from theperson on the street.

The media asset representation 700, in the example shown in FIG. 7, alsoincludes a combination of compound media asset type file objectscorresponding to the compound media asset type description objects, forexample, movie file objects PTN-Web and PTN-IPTV (elements 735 and 740),trailer file object PTN-Web and PTN-IPTV (elements 745 and 750), and acover file objects PTN-Web and PTN-IPTV (element 755 and 760).

FIG. 8 shows a prime time news media asset representation 800. The primetime news media asset representation 800, in the example shown in FIG.8, includes a combination of compound media asset type descriptionobjects, for example, a movie description object PTN-1 (element 815),trailer description object PTN-5 (elements 820), a cover descriptionobject PTN-3 (element 825), and an audio description object PTN-5(element 830). The compound media asset type description objects and thecorresponding compound media asset type file objects, in FIG. 8, may bedistinguished from the objects listed in FIGS. 6 and 7 based on anynumber of media asset data and media asset metadata differences. Forexample, the media asset representation in FIG. 8 may be distinguishedfrom media asset representation in FIGS. 6 and 7 merely based on uniquelanguages associated with the media asset representation in FIG. 8. Thecompound media asset type file objects presented in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 aredifferent media asset formats or renditions, produced by contenttranscoding.

The prime time news media asset representation 800, in the example shownin FIG. 8, includes, for example, an abstract compound media asset typedescription object PTN-1 (element 835), and an abstract compound mediaasset type file object PTN-1 (element 865) that are defined as newcompound media asset type description objects and new compound mediaasset type file objects evolve or are recognized. For example, whentelecommunications technology develops sufficiently to replicate anddeliver smells as rich media content, compound media asset typedescription objects and corresponding compound media asset type fileobjects will be defined to associate various types of smell with mediaassets.

The system 100 is not limited to implementing the media assetrepresentations 600, 700, or 800. Instead, the system 100 may buildcustom representations including any combination of compound media assettype description objects and compound media asset type file objects incombination with the asset description objects for a selected mediaasset. As a result, the system 100 adapts to the media content provisionchallenges that currently exist and that may arise in futureapplications.

The system 100 further provides a computer program product that includesprogram code, which when loaded in a computer system causes the systemto perform steps according to a method as described above.

The method, system and product may be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or incombinations of them. The system may alternatively be implemented as acomputer program product; for example, a computer program tangiblyembodied in an information carrier, such as those found in amachine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal for use by adata processing apparatus, such as a programmable processor, a computer,or even multiple computers. A computer program can be written in anyform of programming language, including compiled or interpretedlanguages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can bedeployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at onesite or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The method steps of one implementation may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions of the method by operating on input data and generatingoutput. The method steps may also be performed by, and alternativeimplementations of various aspects of the system 100 may be implementedas, a special purpose logic circuitry, for example, an FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integratedcircuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any type of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass data storage devices, such as magnetic,magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitablefor embodying computer program instructions and data include all formsof non-volatile memory, including by way of example, semiconductormemory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices;magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor andthe memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in special purposelogic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, the system 100 may beimplemented on a computer that has a display device such as a CRT(cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor fordisplaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing devicesuch as a mouse or a trackball by which the user can provide input tothe computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The system 100 may be implemented with a computing system that includesa back-end component, such as a data server, a middleware component,such as an application server, or a front-end component, such as aclient computer that has a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the displayapparatus, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-endcomponents. The components of the system can be interconnected by anyform or medium of digital data communication, such as a communicationnetwork. Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship between client andserver arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

The system 100 may include a general purpose computing device in theform of a conventional computing environment (e.g., personal computer ora laptop), including a processing unit, a system memory, and a systembus that couples various system components including the system memoryto the processing unit. The processing unit may perform arithmetic,logic, and control operations by accessing system memory. The systemmemory may store information and instructions for use in combinationwith the processing unit. The system memory may include volatile andnon-volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and read onlymemory (ROM). A basic input/output system (BIOS) containing the basicroutines that help transfer information between elements within thepersonal computer, such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM. Thesystem bus may be any of several types of bus structures including amemory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures.

The personal computer may further include a hard disk drive for readingfrom and writing to a hard disk, and an external disk drive for readingfrom or writing to a removable disk. The removable disk may be amagnetic disk for a magnetic disk driver or an optical disk such as a CDROM for an optical disk drive. The hard disk drive and external diskdrive are connected to the system bus by a hard disk drive interface andan external disk drive interface, respectively. The drives and theirassociated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage ofcomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules andother data for the personal computer. The data structures may includerelevant data regarding the implementation of the visualization method,as described above, and in particular, data for defining the assignmentof applications to the processes performed in connection with theproducts. The relevant data may be organized in a database, for examplein a relational or object database.

Although the computing environment presently described employs a harddisk and an external disk, it should be appreciated by those skilled inthe art that other types of computer readable media which can store dataaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, digital video disks, random access memories, read only memories,and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, externaldisk, ROM or RAM, including an operating system, one or more applicationprograms, other program modules, and program data. The applicationprograms may include at least a part of the functionality as indicatedin FIGS. 1 through 8.

A user may enter commands and information, as discussed above, into thepersonal computer through input devices such as a keyboard and mouse.Other input devices may include a microphone (or other sensors),joystick, game pad, scanner, or the like. These and other input devicesmay be connected to the processing unit through a serial port interfacethat is coupled to the system bus, or may be collected by otherinterfaces, such as a parallel port interface, game port, or a universalserial bus (USB). Further, information may be printed using a printer.The printer, and other parallel input/output devices, may be connectedto the processing unit through parallel port interface. A monitor orother type of display device is also connected to the system bus via aninterface, such as a video input/output. In addition to the monitor, acomputing environment may include other peripheral output devices, suchas speakers or other audible output.

The computing environment may communicate with other electronic devices,wired or wireless, such as a computer, telephone, personal digitalassistant, television, or the like. To communicate, the computerenvironment may operate in a networked environment using connections toone or more electronic devices. The computer environment may also benetworked with a remote computer. The remote computer may be anothercomputing environment such as a server, a router, a network PC, a peerdevice, or other common network node, and may include many or all of theelements described above relative to the computing environment. Thelogical connections may include a local area network (LAN) and a widearea network (WAN). Such networking environments are commonplace inoffices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

The network connections shown are examples only, and other logic forestablishing a communications link between the electronic devices may beused.

The above-described computing system is only one example of the type ofcomputing system that may be used to implement the system 100.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A digital asset management system comprising: a communicationinterface; a digital asset management database comprising: an assetdescription hierarchy comprising asset description objects comprisingattributes relating a media asset to corresponding asset data and assetmetadata; a compound media asset type description hierarchy comprisingcompound media asset type description objects comprising metadataattributes that associate compound media types to the media asset; acompound media asset type file hierarchy comprising compound media assettype file objects comprising: asset data attributes and asset metadataattributes that associate a media asset data file to compound mediatypes; and media asset files comprising physical data representations ofrenderings associated with compound media types; a memory comprising: aningestion program operable to: obtain the asset data and the assetmetadata for the media asset through the communication interface; ingestthe asset data and the asset metadata by: normalizing the asset data andasset metadata with respect to a defined object format by populating: the asset description objects;  at least one of the compound mediaasset type description objects; and  at least one of the compound mediaasset type file objects; and enriching the asset metadata by augmentingthe asset data and asset metadata with additional asset data andadditional asset metadata not originally obtained for the media asset; aprocessor coupled to the communication interface, database and thememory, and operable to execute the ingestion program.
 2. The digitalasset management system of claim 1, comprising: a one-to-manyrelationship between a selected asset description object and a selectedcompound media asset type description object; and a many-to-manyrelationship between a selected compound media asset type file objectand the selected compound media asset type description object.
 3. Thedigital asset management system of claim 1, where the asset descriptionhierarchy comprises: a media asset package description object comprisingasset data and metadata; a channel description object comprising assetsource information; an electronic program guide object comprisingenhanced functionality metadata; and an exceptions object comprisingasset metadata exceptions identified while ingesting, storing andmanaging the asset.
 4. The digital asset management system of claim 1,where the compound media asset type description hierarchy comprises: amovie description object comprising metadata relating a movie to theasset; a trailer description object comprising metadata relating atrailer to the asset; a cover description object comprising metadatarelating a cover to the asset; an audio description object comprisingmetadata relating audio to the asset; and an abstract compound mediaasset type object comprising metadata relating other compound mediaasset types to the asset.
 5. The digital asset management system ofclaim 1, where the compound media asset type file hierarchy comprises: amovie file object comprising: metadata defining a movie file associatedwith the asset, the movie file comprising a physical data representationof a rendering associated with the media asset; a trailer file objectcomprising: metadata defining a trailer file associated with the asset,the trailer file comprising a physical data representation of arendering associated with the media asset; a cover file objectcomprising: metadata defining a cover file associated with the asset,the cover file comprising the physical data representation of arendering associated with the asset; and an audio file objectcomprising: metadata defining a audio file associated with the asset,the audio file comprising the physical data representation of arendering associated with the asset.
 6. The digital asset managementsystem of claim 1, where the compound media asset type file hierarchycomprises: an abstract compound media asset type file object comprising:metadata defining other file types associated with the media asset, theabstract file-type file comprising the physical data representation of arendering associated with the media asset.
 7. The digital assetmanagement system of claim 1, where the memory further comprises a mediamanagement program operable to: edit and repurpose the media asset by:updating the media asset metadata; and creating an asset rendition fromthe asset data and metadata; publish an asset rendition of the mediaasset by: creating an asset bundle comprising the asset rendition;associating the asset bundle with a delivery channel by: identifying adelivery channel and delivery platform; and formatting the asset bundlefor delivery to a delivery platform; and scheduling and deploying theasset bundle to the delivery platform, and where: the processor isoperable to execute the media management program.
 8. The digital assetmanagement system of claim 7, where the media management program isfurther operable to: search the digital asset management database, andretrieve asset data and metadata based on user selection criteria; andadminister the digital asset management system by provisioning a mediaasset source, and where: the processor is operable to execute the mediamanagement program.
 9. The digital asset management system of claim 1,where the ingestion program is further operable to enrich the assetmetadata by: defining unique media asset data and media asset metadatanot originally associated with the media asset; and defining uniquecombinations of compound media asset type description objects andcompound media asset type file objects not originally associated withthe media asset.
 10. The digital asset management system of claim 1,where the memory further comprises search, storage, and retrievaloptimized combinations of compound media asset type description objectsand compound media asset type file objects.
 11. A computer implementedmethod of ingesting a media asset, the method comprising: defining adigital asset management database comprising: defining an assetdescription hierarchy comprising asset description objects comprisingattributes relating a media asset to corresponding asset data and assetmetadata; defining a compound media asset type description hierarchycomprising compound media asset type description objects comprisingmetadata attributes that associate compound media types to the mediaasset; defining a compound media asset type file hierarchy comprisingcompound media asset type file objects comprising: asset data attributesand asset metadata attributes that associate a media asset data file tocompound media types; and media asset files comprising physical datarepresentations of renderings associated with compound media types;obtaining the asset data and the asset metadata for a media assetthrough the communication interface; ingesting the asset data and theasset metadata by: normalizing the asset data and asset metadata withrespect to a defined object format by populating: the asset descriptionobjects; at least one of the compound media asset type descriptionobjects; and at least one of the compound media asset type file objects;and defining unique media asset data and media asset metadata notoriginally associated with the media asset; and defining uniquecombinations of compound media asset type description objects andcompound media asset type file objects not originally associated withthe media asset; and editing and repurposing the media asset by:updating the media asset metadata; and creating an asset rendition fromthe asset data and metadata; publishing an asset rendition of the mediaasset by: creating an asset bundle comprising the asset rendition;associating the asset bundle with a delivery channel by: identifying adelivery channel and delivery platform; and formatting the asset bundlefor delivery to a delivery platform; and scheduling and deploying theasset bundle to the delivery platform; and searching the digital assetmanagement database, and retrieving asset data and metadata based onuser selection criteria; and provisioning a media asset source.
 12. Themethod according to claim 11, further comprising: defining a one-to-manyrelationship between a selected asset description object and a selectedcompound media asset type description object; and defining amany-to-many relationship between a selected compound media asset typefile object and the selected compound media asset type descriptionobject.
 13. The method according to claim 11, where defining an assetdescription hierarchy comprises: establishing a media asset packagedescription object comprising asset data and metadata; establishing achannel description object comprising asset source information;establishing an electronic program guide object comprising enhancedfunctionality metadata; and establishing an exceptions object comprisingasset metadata exceptions identified while acquiring, ingesting,storing, publishing and managing the asset.
 14. The method according toclaim 11, where defining a compound media asset type descriptionhierarchy comprises: establishing a movie description object comprisingmetadata relating a movie to a media asset; establishing a trailerdescription object comprising metadata relating a trailer to a mediaasset; establishing a cover description object comprising metadatarelating a cover to a media asset; establishing an audio descriptionobject comprising metadata relating audio to a media asset; andestablishing an abstract compound media asset type object comprisingmetadata relating other compound media asset types to a media asset. 15.The method according to claim 11, where defining a compound media assettype file hierarchy comprises: establishing a movie file objectcomprising: metadata defining a movie file associated with a mediaasset, the movie file comprising a physical data representation of arendering associated with the media asset; establishing a trailer fileobject comprising: metadata defining a trailer file associated with amedia asset, the trailer file comprising a physical data representationof a rendering associated with the media asset; establishing a coverfile object comprising: metadata defining a cover file associated with amedia asset, the cover file comprising the physical data representationof a rendering associated with the asset; establishing an audio fileobject comprising: metadata defining a audio file associated with amedia asset, the audio file comprising the physical data representationof a rendering associated with the asset; and establishing an abstractcompound media asset type file object comprising: metadata definingother file types associated with the media asset, the abstract file-typefile comprising the physical data representation of a renderingassociated with the media asset.
 16. A product comprising: a machinereadable medium; and instructions encoded on the medium which cause adata processing system to perform a method comprising: defining adigital asset management database comprising: defining an assetdescription hierarchy comprising asset description objects comprisingattributes relating a media asset to corresponding media asset data andmedia asset metadata; defining a compound media asset type descriptionhierarchy comprising compound media asset type description objectscomprising metadata attributes that associate compound media types to amedia asset; defining a compound media asset type file hierarchycomprising compound media asset type file objects comprising: mediaasset data attributes and media asset metadata attributes that associatea media asset data file to compound media types; and media asset filescomprising physical data representations of renderings associated withcompound media types; performing for a selected media asset thefollowing steps: obtaining media asset data and media asset metadata forthe media asset through a communication interface; ingesting the mediaasset data and media asset metadata by: normalizing the media asset dataand media asset metadata with respect to a defined object format bypopulating: the asset description objects; at least one of the compoundmedia asset type description objects; and at least one of the compoundmedia asset type file objects; and defining unique media asset data andmedia asset metadata not originally associated with the media asset; anddefining unique combinations of compound media asset type descriptionobjects and compound media asset type file objects not originallyassociated with the media asset; and editing and repurposing a mediaasset by: updating the media asset metadata; and creating an assetrendition from the asset data and metadata; publishing an assetrendition of a media asset by: creating an asset bundle comprising theasset rendition; associating the asset bundle with a delivery channelby: identifying a delivery channel and delivery platform; and formattingthe asset bundle for delivery to a delivery platform; and scheduling anddeploying the asset bundle to the delivery platform; and searching thedigital asset management database, and retrieving asset data andmetadata based on user selection criteria; and provisioning a mediaasset source.
 17. The product of claim 16, further comprising: defininga one-to-many relationship is defined between a selected assetdescription object and a selected compound media asset type descriptionobject; and defining a many-to-many relationship is defined between aselected compound media asset type file object and the selected compoundmedia asset type description object.
 18. The product of claim 16, wheredefining an asset description hierarchy comprises: establishing a mediaasset package description object comprising asset data and metadata;establishing a channel description object comprising asset sourceinformation; establishing an electronic program guide object comprisingenhanced functionality metadata; and establishing an exceptions objectcomprising asset metadata exceptions identified while acquiring,ingesting, storing, publishing and managing.
 19. The product of claim16, where defining a compound media asset type description hierarchycomprises: establishing a movie description object comprising metadatarelating a movie to the asset; establishing a trailer description objectcomprising metadata relating a trailer to the asset; establishing acover description object comprising metadata relating a cover to theasset; establishing an audio description object comprising metadatarelating audio to the asset; and establishing an abstract compound mediaasset type object comprising metadata relating other compound mediaasset types to the asset.
 20. The product of claim 16, where defining acompound media asset type file hierarchy comprises: establishing a moviefile object comprising: metadata defining a movie file associated withthe asset, the movie file comprising a physical data representation of arendering associated with the media asset; establishing a trailer fileobject comprising: metadata defining a trailer file associated with theasset, the trailer file comprising a physical data representation of arendering associated with the media asset; establishing a cover fileobject comprising: metadata defining a cover file associated with theasset, the cover file comprising the physical data representation of arendering associated with the asset; establishing an audio file objectcomprising: metadata defining a audio file associated with the asset,the audio file comprising the physical data representation of arendering associated with the asset; and establishing an abstractcompound media asset type file object comprising: metadata definingother file types associated with the media asset, the abstract file-typefile comprising the physical data representation of a renderingassociated with the media asset.